


Fragments III

by Monochromely



Series: Fragments [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alcohol, Coronavirus mention, F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:49:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 64
Words: 6,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28753170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monochromely/pseuds/Monochromely
Summary: 300 drabbles, 100 words each. || Fragments from Steven's universe.[Prompts open!]
Relationships: Blue Diamond/Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe), Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Series: Fragments [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1279244
Comments: 497
Kudos: 83





	1. Baggage

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, guys! Welcome to _Fragments III,_ the third and likely final installment in my 100-word drabble series! (I qualify 'final' with 'likely' because I say this now, but who knows, lmao? It'll all just depend on my muse, which changes every time I so much as sneeze.)
> 
> If you're new to _Fragments,_ then the way it works is that you give me prompts from _SU_ , and if I choose yours, I'll try to encapsulate it into a 100-word drabble. I can take prompts from any part of the series—from the main show to _Future_. And honestly, I'm especially excited to delve into the movie and _Future_ because I didn't do that in the previous fics!
> 
> I don't quite take every prompt, but please don't think that this is a reflection of you; it's more so on me if I can't particularly find inspiration for it.
> 
> And finally, as I love using this drabble series as a chance to challenge myself, I've created two goals for myself over the course of this fic!
> 
> • I want to include all of the relatively significant characters from the franchise at least once in this fic! I've created a list to keep me accountable on my [statistics sheet](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aRyO91orah6DvDuslNIsWv2XlhFtKCNTZpBm06k6m_A/edit?usp=sharing), so if you're struggling to think of a prompt to send me, see if you can come up with something with a character I haven't used yet!  
> • I also want to use all the letters of the alphabet in the titles at least once. I did this in the first _Fragments_ , and it was fun to try and get the obscure letters!
> 
>  _Fragments III_ will also be the longest drabble fic I've ever done, so I'm excited to eventually say that I tabled another 30,000 words.
> 
> It's a long climb, but boy, I'm always excited for the journey.  
> —  
>  **Prompt:** Steven meets his therapist!

“So the first thing you should know about me,” Steven begins nervously, gripping the bottom of his shirt, “is that, uh—“

But before he can _really_ get going and reveal his gemstone like it’s a second head, Dr. Yeoh, his new therapist, shakes her head, smiling gently.

“Wait,” she interjects kindly. “I don’t want my first thing I know about you to be something that you’re obviously dreading to tell… so let that be the second thing, and tell me something else first.”

Steven’s eyes widen.

Dr. Yeoh’s gaze becomes serious.

“The baggage in your life doesn’t define you, Steven.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1/100


	2. Eternity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** how About a bellow interaction you've always wanted to see in Canon, but didn't get to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Anon prompter. :') You get me. The best part of this particular one is that I had _so many ideas_ that I struggled to just settle on one, lmao.
> 
> Anyway, thank you all so much for the amazing welcome to this fic! I'm so excited to get this project going.

They walk along the corridor together, their shadows lengthening in the rosy light throwing itself in geometric fragments through the windows.

Blue and Yellow Diamond.

Shoulders just barely touching, even though they both pretend not to notice.

“It’s... quaint, isn’t it?” Blue murmurs. “That we have nowhere we’re supposed to be right now.”

“I keep expecting that insipid chime to ring at any second now,” Yellow agrees, “pulling me away.”

They pause for a beat, waiting, but the silence remains unchallenged.

And Blue smiles so tenderly that Yellow swears she can see eternity stretch in the colors of her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2/300


	3. Foe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Jasper is simultaneously satisfied and yet left deeply empty inside by her self-isolation on Earth, and doesn't understand how to even begin to process this dichotomy. (So she doesn’t.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's do two today!

Every morning on this accursed planet, Jasper makes up a new foe to fight.

Rocks become monsters, and trees turn into enemy gems.

She has to break them before they break her, she tells herself.

For this is what it is to survive a war.

Shattering boulders and eviscerating branches, smiling viciously in relief at every kill.

On the mountaintop, Jasper smiles all the time.

Until the end of the day, at least, when the rocks become just rocks again, and the trees are only trees.

And the soldier is left standing upon the battlefield of a self-made war.

Unresolved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/300


	4. Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Young Greg's POV when he wrote those letters to his parents Steven found on Mr. Universe episode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Mr. Universe" is one of the most harrowing eleven minutes this show has ever done, starting with the moment that we got that one glimpse of all of Greg's unopened letters.

_Dear Ma and Pa_ , Greg writes and then just as abruptly stops, his pen shaking in his hand.

Because it’s been five years since he ran away his folks’ home, and he doesn’t know what to say to them.

_Hey, I know it’s been awhile, but I had a short-lived career as a rockstar before falling in love with a big, beautiful alien woman who gave up her physical form, and now I have a half-alien kid, and we live in a van._

_Ahaha._

His parents had wanted him to be an effing lawyer.

He had wanted to be free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/100


	5. Sword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Connie interacting with someone she doesn't usually talk to by herself (ex Jasper, Bismuth, Lapis, etc.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let Connie and Bismuth be sword buddies 2k21. ;w;

Connie likes watching Bismuth work, toiling away at her anvil, her hands shifting from mallets to tongs back to hands again. The fire blazing in the hearth casts the newly minted forge in warm tones: honeyed oranges and velvet reds.

It’s all so very cozy.

Like Bismuth herself.

“Thanks for doing this,” Connie smiles, admiring the blue metal Bismuth plunges into a nearby barrel of water. “I didn’t realize you could ever outgrow a _sword_.”

“Me neither,” the blacksmith admits. “But I suppose it makes sense… you humans are constantly growing and changing. ‘Course you need a weapon to match!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5/100


	6. Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** idk about you but i wanna see more Mega Pearl. the others have not met Mega Pearl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gimme all the Mega Pearl. ;w;

On most days, Pearl and Volleyball are perfectly content to talk, sharing quiet understanding between themselves in murmurs and meaningful touches and bittersweet laughter.

On other days, when they don’t want to share things, when they simply just want to _know_ , they _fuse_.

Mega Pearl likes to walk along the shoreline, retracing the complicated memories of Rose's bare feet in the sand.

Processing.

Understanding.

_Healing._

Sometimes, Garnet joins her.

“I’ll never get tired of this view,” she says suddenly.

Pearl’s brow gently furrows.

“The ocean?”

“No,” Garnet replies, warmth in her voice, unmistakable _pride_. “You and you together, perfectly reconciled.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6/300


	7. Marks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** how about... Spinel, and the tiny, everyday baby steps towards healing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double post today! I think one of my favorite, little _SU_ character details is how the Crewniverse allows the physical manifestations of characters' pain/grief/ to remain even after things have gotten better for them. It's just such an important commentary on how the traumas in people's lives change them forever.
> 
> And yet, that doesn't constitute a finality, nor an end.

Some cycles, Spinel can barely face her lined reflection in the shiny, palace floors.

And when she can’t, she finds herself in Blue Diamond’s company, staring at the dark hollows beneath her eyes.

“D’you… think they’ll ever go away?” She asks, a little hesitant, a little desperate, but Blue is patient, understanding, soft.

“No,” she shakes her head, “I’ll bear these marks forever most likely, but… you know… I believe that’s okay.”

“It is?”

“Aye,” Blue murmurs. “My grief will always be a part of me, and I have to accept that, in order to continue moving forwards and on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7/300


	8. Tangled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Peridot finds out/is told about PD/RQ? (And is confirmed in her guess that Pearl is fancy...?)

They’re setting out metal chairs for Garnet’s wedding, arranging them pitch perfectly so that Pearl will stop nagging at them, when Amethyst tells Peridot in the lowest of voices:

Rose Quartz was really Pink Diamond all along.

“Stars above!” Peridot drops all the chairs she’s levitating.

“Shit is more like it,” Amethyst only replies glumly.

Peridot glances around wildly, absorbing the microscopic gestures in everyone’s physiognomies that she hadn’t noticed before.

Steven’s furrowed brow.

Pearl’s wringing hands.

Restless.

Finicky.

_Guilty._

Amethyst follows her gaze.

“Pearl’s all tangled up in it,” she confirms quietly. “But she’s bein’ too hard on herself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/300


	9. Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** how is Steven's TubeTube channel doing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let Steven be a kid who does dumb things sometimes 2k21. ;w;
> 
> Happy Inauguration Day, everyone! I hope it's as joyous for you as it is for me. And please stay safe!

“Are you sure about this, Steven?” Lapis asks dubiously, a slight crease in her blue brow.

“Super sure, Bob!” Steven tilts his head to look up at her, hovering above his head. “It’s for my TubeTube channel!”

“I have no idea what that means.”

Chuckling, Steven returns his focus to the camcorder in front of him, hoisted on a tripod.

“Hi, my name is Steven, and this is my jelly bean challenge! My friend Lapis is going throw jelly beans in my mou—“

But fortunately, he doesn’t get a chance to finish because Pearl flies out of house, shrieking, “ _STEVEN!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/300


	10. Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Writer's Choice:** Priyanka tends to Connie's wounds after training sessions with Pearl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I can't believe we've already reached the first Writer's Choice of _FIII._ Thank you to everyone whose read, commented, left a Kudos, and a prompt for this fic. Your support inspires me every day, and I'm so glad that this project has hit the ground running. <3

Another Saturday.

Another training session with Pearl.

And a few more collected bruises, shadowing the narrow line of Connie’s jaw.

“Hold still,” Priyanka commands sternly, though when she presses the ice pack to her daughter’s skin, her touch is light.

Gentle.

“Ah... that feels better.”

“I can imagine,” she snorts. “What in the world are you two even doing in that arena? Boxing bears? Staving off Godzilla?”

“Sort of,” Connie grins. “Training to fight enemy gems. Y’know, in case of an invasion.”

“The pragmatist in me rejects that.” Priyanka shakes her head.

“Thanks for letting me do it anyway, Mom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10/300


	11. Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Yellow Diamond gets to relax (she's the one who most expresses regret and real understanding, let her take a nap she deserves it)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post-CYM White is the mom who barges into ur room at, like, seven AM to wake you up, but when she sees that you're sleeping, she takes photos of you on the iPhone she just recently learned how to use.

“ _Suuuuuunlight?_ ” White Diamond singsongs as the golden doors slide open with a pneumatic hiss. “Yellow, are you in here? Blue, Spinel, and I are ready to leave posthaste!”

But there is no immediate reply, nor familiar figure hunched over the vanity, ceaselessly confronting her own reckoning. Instead...

“Oh, White!” Blue gently tugs at her arm. “Look down.”

Stretched out beneath them, head propped up on her elbow, Yellow Diamond is... _dormant._

Eyes closed.

Armored chest moving slowly with the deep, heavy breath of her perfect stillness, vulnerable and rare.

“Oh,” White murmurs, suddenly overwhelmed with fondness.

“Oh,” Blue tenderly agrees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/300


	12. Barbecue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Post movie,during cleanup, Steven and Lars talk and plan the bbq we got a glimpse at during the final song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUGH, I love Lars and Steven's friendship, both before the Wanted arc and after. The development has just been phenomenal.

Lars lightly knocks his fist against Steven’s head, smirking down at him from a height difference that’s not as stark as it used to be.

 _“Lars!”_ He rubs his hair indignantly.

“You. Me. All our friends. A barbecue. Tomorrow night,” Lars says, very matter-of-factly, even as Steven opens his mouth to protest. “Nonnegotiable.”

“Um, have you _seen_ the town lately? It’s still covered in gunk.”

“And it’ll still be covered in gunk for a long time,” Lars shrugs kindly. “You need a break, Steven, and a good ass burger.”

“But I’m thinking about going vegetarian...”

“Dude, I’ll make yours tofu.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12/300


	13. Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Yellowtail and Greg talk about fatherhood and how it can be ruined (mentioning Marty and Greg's father subtly).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **CW:** Alcohol Mention
> 
> Wow, writing this one hit harder than I expected. Thanks for the great prompt! I'd never really thought of a Yellowtail/Greg friendship before.

They sit on the dock together, a six-pack propped between them, watching the sunset scorch the sea.

“Mah, mah, mah, mah!” Yellowtail says angrily, sloshing beer on his weathered coat. “Mah!”

Marty called to wish Sour Cream a happy birthday yesterday.

His birthday was two months ago.

“Yeesh,” Greg winces sympathetically. “That guy never changes, huh?”

“ _Mah,_ ” the sailor harrumphs.

“Maybe SC should ghost him?” He suggests dully. “That’s what I did with my pa...”

“Mah, mah?”

“He... never got me,” Greg explains, glancing away. “And I wish he had. But he couldn't. So I did what I had t’do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 13/300


	14. UNO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** date between pearls (platonic or otherwise)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hhiosdfhioahfiohio, it's so rare that I write fluff, but when I do, it's cavity inducing.

It’s strange that they’re all together with no imperial figures looming over them—Pearl and Pearl and Pearl and Pearl.

All different shades

All emerged for the same initial purpose.

But sitting atop of a picnic blanket that Volleyball laid out, the midday sun dusting their hair gold, there’s no room for the Diamonds on this patchwork square.

Yellow Pearl purses her lips indignantly.

“What if I don’t want to draw four?”

“Then you’re a sore loser,” Pearl singsongs wryly.

“Don’t listen to Pearl,” Volley laughs. “She’s being _mean_!”

Blue covers her mouth with her cards to conceal a giggle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 14/300


	15. Height

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** the pebbles!!! they're so small???? where are they *sobs, points at the heaven and earth beetles*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUGH, what a fun linkage!!

All of their lives, the pebbles have lived in a palace that has far exceeded their size.

And then Era Three arrives, so suddenly and so magnificently, and with it, _change unimaginable._

The Heaven and the Earth Beetles, once royal Homeworld diplomats, now Little Homeschool ambassadors, tell them about the planet Pink Diamond once loved.

“It’s not for everyone…” Heaven Beetle says softly.

“But even still,” Earth Beetle follows up, “if you would like, you could stay with us in our house.”

A Pebble’s gaze flick upwards to the infinitely vaulting ceilings, and Earth Beetle smiles.

“It’s just our height.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 15/300


	16. Embrace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Steven gets a well-deserved cuddle pile from family and friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looking for some more prompts, especially for characters I haven't tackled yet or parts of _Future_ that I haven't gotten the chance to unravel! My prompt list is definitely healthy rn, but I want to make sure I have some more choices for diversity! I try to space out characters' appearances as much as possible.
> 
>  **CW:** Depression

Some days in therapy are tougher than others.

Dr. Yeoh encourages him to talk about what hurts.

So much of it still does.

And sometimes, Steven spends the hour session unloading, and Dr. Yeoh doesn’t have enough time to unpack, and he has to drive home with all his thoughts…

Dark.

Desolate.

Drear.

He makes it home, though, and he puts on a smile for his family because it’s what he knows how to do.

But somewhere, in the midst of everything, they’ve all learned better—Garnet, Amethyst, Dad, and Pearl.

They wrap their arms around him.

Warm.

Attentive.

_Here._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 16/300


	17. Constructs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Bismuth and peridot have a lot more in common then they think

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peridot and Bismuth make such a fun duo. ;w; I wish we could have seen more of their friendship in the show!

They work together as a team, constructing houses in Little Homeschool.

Bismuth builds, and Peridot helps her move materials back and forth.

And at the end of a long day, they sit on the scaffolding of all their hard work, legs dangling off the edge.

Just chillin’.

“I didn’t have this kind of freedom in Homeworld,” Bismuth begins softly. “T’build what I wanted to. It was all for someone else—nobles, diplomats, and Diamonds.”

“Same story, different facets,” Peridot grins faintly. “I was full of ideas when I first emerged, but nyeh, you don’t have ideas on Homeworld, you know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 17/300


	18. Horns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Amethyst makes an unexpected new friend at Little Homeschool. (Whichever other character you feel would fit best!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bismuth isn't the only gem who likes awful puns.

“Hey, sis!” Amethyst shouts, trying to get the Jasper’s attention over the jabbering of all the other Quartzes. “C’mere!”

Biggs Jasper quietly picks her way through the crowd, stopping in front of Amethyst with a shy smile.

“Hullo...”

“Says here on the clipboard that you’re the only Quartz who hasn’t signed up for Yellow D’s corruption scar treatment extravaganza or whatever,” Amethyst grins. “Just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t missing you…”

“Nah,” she shrugs. “My horns have kinda grown on me."

She taps them with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

“Dammit,” Amethyst laughs. “That’s a good one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 18/300


	19. Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Pre-show scene. While having a funny chat, Greg mentions something that reminds Rose about her abandoning Spinel which makes her regret more of her choices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This prompt came for all my feelings, which immediately meant that I had to write it.

“So get this,” Greg laughs, splaying his fingers wide in that way he so often does when he gets excited.

 _Stars_ , how Rose loves him.

“So me and my cousin were hiding in his mom’s garden, right? ‘Cuz we, uh, ate her pie, and we knew she’d be pissed, and then a squirrel—“

But whatever comes next, Rose doesn’t exactly hear.

Because she’s suddenly thinking of another garden.

From thousands of years ago.

Spiraling walls and endless atmosphere above.

Marbled fountains.

Flowers climbing the stone.

Laughter echoing through all the emptiness.

_Spinel._

Rose’s gem hitches painfully.

(It’s not the baby.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 19/300


	20. Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Writer's Choice:** Garnet can tell when Stevonnie has a lot on their mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both of my writer's choices so far have really been about mothers and their kids, huh?
> 
> Thank you so much to all of you who have made is so far with me to 2,000 words! I'm having so much fun with these prompts, and writing _FIII_ in general has been such a gift. ;w; School's stressful af, so it's nice to set aside some time every morning to slam a drabble or two out! <3 Hope you guys are having a good week!

Stevonnie feels Garnet’s fingers in their hair, steadily weaving their dark tresses into a braid with slow, rhythmic motions.

They try hard to stay still.

(It’s difficult.)

“You’re occupied,” Garnet intuits.

It’s a statement, not a question.

“No,” they argue stubbornly.

The elder fusion’s silence is its own admonishment.

“Yes,” Stevonnie mumbles shamefacedly, picking at a loose thread in Connie’s jacket. “Someone hit on us the other day... and we… we didn’t like it.”

“Stevonnie, listen to me,” Garnet says immediately, her hands so gentle, her voice subterranean ice. “You _never_ have to like anything that makes you feel bad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 20/300


	21. Hum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Yellow and her relationship with music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do y'all ever just remember that _the_ Patti Lupone voices Yellow Diamond and scream? ;-;
> 
> (And also, for all of you _Flower Child_ readers, yes, I totally paralleled this conversation with one of the ones Blue/Yellow in Ch. 6. ;w;)

Blue catches her in the act one day.

It’s embarrassing, and it’s stupid, and so many other things besides.

“You’re _humming_ ,” Blue whispers, awe in her voice, quiet affection, as she sidles alongside Yellow Diamond.

“Something of the sort, yes,” Yellow mutters petulantly, her cheeks darkening.

“I haven’t heard you hum since—“

But she can’t go on, the sentence too much to bear.

Yellow’s eyes softens.

Her gem aches.

“It makes me feel closer to her,” she admits, reflexively grabbing Blue’s hand. “She loved to sing.”

“You harmonized beautifully with her, though,” Blue murmurs kindly. “The best of us all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 21/300


	22. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Pearl considering her romantic feelings towards someone and thinking about how she's finally moving on from Rose (doesn't mean she'll ever forget her)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's tender hours in _Fragments III._

Pearl’s falling a little bit in love with everyone nowadays—with Khadijah’s bravery and Brandish’s laugh and Jaime’s blue hair.

With Bismuth’s strong, firm hands.

With the gentle way Volley speaks, as though a flower on the fragrant wind.

Oh, she knows that one day, things may very well change.

Someone might make a move first, and then she’ll maybe make a move back, and the spar will begin—slowly, surely, carefully.

But until then, Pearl thinks it’s okay to share her metaphorical heart with so many others.

Rose would have liked that.

She would have understood better than anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 22/300


	23. Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** a glimpse into Sadie Killer. Maybe when they played their first show, while Steven was still in the band? celebrating afterward or a discussion on why Steven didn't stay IN the band

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are having a good weekend!

That night, the air is electric with celebration.

Because Sadie and Steven and the Cool Kids?

_They just performed their first show._

And all of them together—jubilant, bold, inspired, carefree?

They’re already making _plans_.

Well, almost all of them.

“That riff you did at the end was sick _,_ ” Sour Cream tells Steven. “You should do it again next time.”

“Oh, um,” Steven hesitates. “I’m not sure there’s gonna be a next time for me.”

“ _What?!_ ” Jenny exclaims.

“It’s just that, you know, I’ve got Gem duties…”

“Screw your duties,” Sadie says sagely.

“Yeah.” Buck’s glasses flash.

“Be a kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 23/300


	24. Troubleshooting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** integration of gem communication networks and Earth internet and phone lines and the resulting inevitable disaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmaooooooo, this prompt.

Communication between Homeworld and Little Homeworld is tentative at first, mainly because Peridot, _incomparable_ though she is, is having trouble reconciling Homeworld’s holographic communication system with WiFi.

And besides, her assistant two hundred lightyears away is being an absolute _clod_.

“You’re… struggling with… this,” Yellow Pearl’s static-cracked voice comes through the speaker in patches.

“No!” Peridot protests violently, glaring at Lapis, who’s silently laughing off to the side. “I’m just fine-tuning an extremely delicate system!

“That… is… a lot of… words… to… say… you’re struggling,” Yellow smirks.

Peridot makes a universal gesture at the monitor that she hopes transmits through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 24/300


	25. Fairytale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Connie gets a tour of Little Homeworld

Connie and Steven stroll around the barebones beginnings of Little Homeworld together, holding hands and pretending not to notice that they are.

Steven points out a half-finished building in the distance, its stones spiraling up into a cloud skimmed sky.

“Bismuth say that’s going to be the observatory, where folks can just go up and enjoy the view,” he explains softly.

“Brilliant!” Connie’s eyes sparkle. “A whole vista of progress, unfurling towards the sea.”

“When you put it like that, it almost sounds like a fairytale.”

“Yeah,” she agrees, chuckling. “Happily ever afters and all.”

Steven could live with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 25/300


	26. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Jasper finally starting to let her guard down and realize her self worth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Thinks about how post- _Future_ Jasper might be in a similar place as, like, pre-show/S1 Pearl.* ;-;

The Pearl holds a Geminar on moving on after the war, talking about how it was difficult to pick up the pieces of herself after everything.

And Jasper listens attentively, even if she pretends otherwise, looking away.

“It’s hard to move on after so much pain,” Pearl says gently. “To shoulder it and to keep walking, to carry it with you forever…”

The soldier glances down at her hands.

Mottled green.

“But damage doesn’t imply brokenness.”

Jasper’s gem wrenches.

Softly.

Longingly.

In the tangle of her mind, she confuses _hope_ for _weakness_.

(She’s never known _hope_ before.)

“I’m living proof.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 26/300


	27. Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** As for prompts... Steg? Like, him in general, just being himself. It's a bummer we only got to see him in the movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It makes me so sad to think about the fact that the first time Greg fuses, the joy of it is almost immediately tempered by the fact that his son is, like, deteriorating right before his eyes.

Greg and Steven are jamming out one day, dancing to a vinyl that they both love at a picnic with everyone who loves them, when their shoulders suddenly bump, and there’s a burst of white light as the song reaches its crescendo.

Steg lands on his feet, _singing_.

He sings the rest of the song for as long as it goes on, and when it ends, he summons his guitar and composes a new one on the spot.

It’s about being alive in the world and being loved.

“Pretty neat, huh?” Amethyst grins.

“He’s beautiful,” Garnet laughs in radiant reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 27/300


	28. Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Steven talking to someone (not a therapist, just another character) about his trauma?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Priyanka's character development over the course of the show was genuinely one of the most brilliant—the culmination of it in "Growing Pains" got to me. ;-;

The night enshrouds Priyanka and Steven in its heavy arms as they sit upon the steps leading up to the Maheswaran townhouse.

“I wanna talk to my dad about the fight we had,” Steven begins quietly, “but I don’t know how to, Dr. M… I said so many hurtful things.”

And he stares at his hands, as though he can scarcely believe what they’ve done.

“Some of which your father undoubtedly needed to hear,” Priyanka replies. “Parents… we make mistakes sometimes… and we need our kids to inform us about them—even if they’re ugly. Perhaps especially when they are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 28/300


	29. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** The Topaz fusion reconnects with the Crystal Gems at Little Homeschool, and apologizes for her role in the kidnapping all those years ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are having a pleasant weekend so far!

During the first few weeks after her arrival at Little Homeworld, Topaz apologizes to anyone who’ll listen.

She’s sorry for having been complicit in nearly kidnapping so many of Steven’s beloved friends.

_Captain Lars, I’m sorry for having hurt you._

_Steven Universe, please forgive me._

Fundamentally, she’s sorry for being herself sometimes because this is the lesson that her Homeworld superiors, from Aquamarine upwards, have ingrained in the fusion all along.

It’s perverse to love herself.

“Of course I forgive you,” Amethyst shrugs kindly after class one day.

“But here’s the thing, dude—one day, you’ve gotta forgive you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 29/300


	30. Visions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Writer's Choice:** Sapphire and Ruby reflect on the events of "Together Forever."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with vaguely, if not absolutely harrowing piece, we've reached our third writer's choice!!! Thank you so much for all the kind words and fascinating conversations you've given me on the way to this checkpoint. ;w; I adore y'all so much, and I can't wait to keep going from here.

“Sapphy?”

“Yes, Ruby?” The two gems who make up Garnet are stretched out across the sands in front of the Temple, barely watching the stars wheel through the sky.

They’re supposed to be having a date night tonight...

Neither of them are feeling particularly romantic.

“Do you think Steven’ll ever forgive us?”

“He already has,” Sapphire says.

Immediately.

Hesitantly.

_Knowingly._

“Because he thinks the proposal was all his fault, right?”

Sapphire closes her eye as sundry visions overwhelm her: Steven in his room, clutching a pillow to his heaving chest.... Steven throwing a glow bracelet away in the trash...

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 30/300


	31. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Maybe a scene where Yellow comes home from a long escapade and reunited with a worried spinel?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took all of my self-discipline to not name this fragment Skabooshed shiaodioasiohfh.

Spinel swipes at her perpetually lined eyes.

“I thought you were gone, skedaddled, _skabooshed_ ,” she sniffs as she’s lofted into the air. “What took you so long, Yellow? It’s been _ages_.”

Even as she says it, she knows she’s being too much—clingy and sad and overwhelming.

( _Traumatized._ )

But, to her surprise, Yellow Diamond doesn’t seem to hold it against her.

“I apologize, Spinel,” she explains gently. “My ship’s hyperspace capacitor needed repairs, and I couldn’t get a message back to Homeworld.”

“I was worried ‘bout you.”

The Diamond’s eyes soften, melting like liquid gold.

“I’m safe now—I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 31/300


	32. Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** after cym Lapis and Peridot discuss where to live since the barn is destroyed.

“We could crash in Steven’s bathroom?” Peridot suggests, her nose wrinkling with uncertainty.

She’s had enough of the bathroom to last at least two organic lifetimes.

“Mm… there wouldn’t be enough space for both of us,” Lapis replies. “And Pumpkin, of course.”

“Woof!” Pumpkin barks in agreement.

“We could rebuild the barn…?”

The question is simple; the underlying proposition is wrapped up in so many memories for them both.

The good, the bad, and everything in-between.

“Maybe…” Peridot hesitates. “But it’s so far away from everything and everyone…”

“And we need a fresh start,” Lapis murmurs softly.

Understandingly.

“Exactly, Lazuli.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 32/300


	33. Pet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** White Diamond happily announces one day that she has decided to take in a small creature (of your choosing) as a pet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this might be one of the funniest effing prompts I have ever received in my life. I've stared at it for weeks, just bursting out loud in laughter, because for some arbitrary reason, it reminded me of that SNL "Tiny Horse" skit.
> 
> Thank you, Anon.
> 
> (Also, looking for some more prompts!! I have a fair amount as it stands, but I need a bit more diversity in characters. So try to avoid sending in prompts for Yellow Diamond, Greg, Lapis, and Peridot for just a little bit! Thank you!)

They’re on another decolonization tour, this time of Crete, a planet some thousands of lightyears away.

It was one of the first that White Diamond had ever conquered.

“Stars,” Yellow grumbles impatiently, “I don’t know what’s taking her so long.”

“She said she was looking for something,” Steven shrugs.

“I’m sure it’s important—” Blue begins, but her consolations are interrupted by the disturbing sight of White bursting through the foliage with an alarmingly ferocious, phosphorescent-eyed panther, tucked in her arms like a shy kitten.

Yellow swears violently.

“Sorry I’m late!” White laughs. “I was just picking up an old friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 33/300


	34. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** What were Doc, Army, Navy, and Leggy doing during Future?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ruby squad reunited. ;w;

After Eyeball, it takes her hundreds of cycles to find everyone.

But Navy is diligent.

_Persistent._

She collects them all from the glittering vacuum of space—Doc, Army, and Leggy—pulling them up from nothingness and into her arms, tears streaming down her face every time she sees her reflection in the face of another.

Army punches her affectionately.

Leggy cries in her arms.

Doc pretends that she’s doing better than she really is.

But they’re together again, and that’s what matters.

That’s what’s important in the end.

“Rubies,” Navy smiles at Leggy softly, patting her head, “let’s go _home_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 34/300


	35. Desert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Steven meeting Lion from Lion's perspective. I dunno, I think it could be neat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, we're going to do doubles for the next few days because I _really_ want Valentine's Day to land on my writer's choice hiosadhsioahfoi.

Lion feels it in his gut.

She’s near again—the lady with the pink hair, the alien named Rose.

She had a gem in her belly.

She pulled him from the darkness back into the light.

He lifts himself off his haunches and begins to _run_ —joyous, primal, loving, triumphant—drawn to the place where she should be, the desert giving way beneath his powerful paws.

But when he reaches the dunes, all his magic points him to someone who isn’t Rose.

It’s a child resting against a pillar.

He has a gem in his belly.

He has her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 35/300


	36. Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** For a post-CYM/SU:F prompt, what do you think about the exact moment it hit either Blue or Yellow Pearl that they were completely free to follow their whims?

When the final Era Three announcement is made, Steven Universe returns to Earth, and the royal Pearls are left to their own devices for the first time in millennia.

There are no more broadcasts to be produced, nor services to fulfill.

In Era Three, they are _free_.

“Freedom is tedious,” Yellow sniffs. “I haven’t the faintest idea what to do.”

Blue glances out at the world beyond the palace steps—already shifting.

Changing.

_Evolving._

Yesterday, she witnessed a cross-gem fusion hugging herself in the middle of the square.

“Maybe that’s the point…?” She murmurs uncertainly. “We’re allowed to do _anything_ …”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 36/300


	37. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Greg apologizes to Steven due to the incident in Mr. Universe and both have the talk they should've had in that episode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of all the _Future_ episodes that undid me, this one is probably at the top of that list. Lord.

It’s a horrible conversation to have, but it’s a necessary one.

One day, Steven apologizes, his clouded eyes pulled towards the tarp covered van in the carwash’s driveway.

“I let my anger get the best of me,” he whispers, his voice broken and hoarse. “I nearly could have killed us.”

Greg swallows thickly.

He feels like a failure.

“No, _I’m_ sorry, buddy,” he says, swiping at his eyes. “You’re young, and you’ve been through a lot, and you just wanted answers to questions I always hoped you’d never ask. And that’s on me, Steven—not you. Not you at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 37/300


	38. Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Blue and Yellow Zircon's relationship has improved even if they are now rivals in the new democratic Homeworld. This last tiny bit is related to the Homeworld Bound episode.

Minutes before the next debate, Blue and Yellow Zircon find themselves in the shared wing behind the stage, waiting for their cue.

Blue fiddles with her cravat while her counterpart straightens her monocle.

It’s a familiar scene strangely enough.

For how many times had they coexisted side-by-side in thousands of years, waiting to be summoned to court?

Opposing each other.

_Arguing._

Reluctantly being impressed.

Blue smiles a little to herself despite her nerves.

“You seem uncharacteristically happy,” Yellow observes, acerbic as ever but curious against her will.

Blue can’t help but chuckle.

“Just thinking about how some things never change.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 38/300


	39. Hug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** bellow cuddling but yellow has no idea what to do but blue is loving it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've spoken directly 2 my heart, Anon hsdiohios. I can't resist a good Bellow prompt.
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day, Pt. 1! I hope you guys have a great day with your friends, family, and/or significant others!

“What,” Yellow swallows, her face feeling hot, “are you doing?”

It’s barely the middle of the cycle, and Blue Diamond has somehow managed to sneak up behind her and wrap her arms around her neck, her fingers brushing the hard facets of her gem.

“Embracing you,” Blue murmurs softly. “I believe the term Steven used is _hugging_.”

“And what exactly”—Yellow can scarcely get the words out—“is the point of _hugging_?”

“To show you affection. To demonstrate that I care.”

“Couldn’t you just send me a holomessage?”

“Perhaps,” comes the teasing reply, “but I like flustering you way better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 39/300


	40. Valentine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Writer's Choice:** Steven gives Peridot a Valentine's Day gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUGH, this is the one I was so excited to write!!
> 
> For as long as I can remember, my grandfather has given me, my siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. Valentine's candy because it's one of his favorite holidays. I wanted to bring that same spirit to this fragment! ;w;
> 
> Also, whoa! We've reached a couple of milestones today—our fourth writer's choice _and_ the one-month anniversary of FIII! Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with this fic—reading, commenting, sending me prompts! I'm always so grateful to you all, and I can't wait to continue going from here!

“Wow,” Peridot accepts the peculiarly shaped box with a raised brow, “thanks?”

Steven snickers playfully at her confusion.

“It’s your Valentine’s gift, Peri!” He explains. “Yours has _CPH_ stickers in it, but they usually have, like, candy.”

Peridot rattles the box next to her head, shifting the sticker sheets around.

“But isn’t this one of your weird human traditions?” She asks. “Something, something anatomically incorrect hearts? Sometime, something romance?”

“Yes,” he smiles gently, “but also no. You can give them to your friends and family, too—the people that you love.”

 _Oh_ , she sees now.

“Wow,” she blushes furiously, “thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 40/300


	41. Spite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Aquamarine and Eyeball are distraught at knowing they won't be rewarded for their actions because their worst enemy, Steven Universe, has been labeled a hero and royalty by the Diamonds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if I was a blue gem 💙 and you were a red gem ❤️, and we were both little assholes 😈 united by spite 😡?

On every corner of Homeworld, every stars-forsaken nook and cranny, Steven Universe’s smiling face flashes up at Aquamarine with proclamations about Era Three.

Love, peace, and restoration will now reign in the galaxy forever.

“It’s sickening,” she harrumphs, squinting at the holoboard. “I went through all that trouble to bring that creature to the Diamonds, and now he’s our _darling_ , earthling prince.”

She supposes she shouldn’t be saying this aloud, but she doesn’t care.

There’s only a Ruby nearby.

“Tell me about it,” the Ruby growls threateningly. “If it were up to me, he’d be cracked for treason!”

“Yes, _precisely!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 41/300


	42. Reevaluation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** How about more Peedee and Steven friendship? Like, Peedee noticing Steven’s change in demeanor the farther along the show we get?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this one precisely because school is a colossus and I am sleep deprived, lmao.

Peedee used to think that Steven was just a goofy kid.

This wasn’t a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, he used to be jealous of him, so light and so carefree, always hanging around the Boardwalk, demanding the bits.

The bits.

The _bits._

But here lately, Peedee’s had to re-examine his biases in light of new information.

“Yo, Steven,” he says, passing the carton of crumbs over, “you okay?”

His friend smiles tiredly, the unsubtle lines beneath his eyes creasing.

“Beyond the fact that my mom might’ve been a war criminal?” He chuckles. “Sure, sure…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 42/300


	43. Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Connie kicking ass at space camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> c: 
> 
> My entire thought process for this one was, "Yes, she kicks ass, _but_..."

After Spinel, Connie returns to space camp and dreams of irradiated ooze.

She treats the anti-grav simulator as though it’s a training session, twisting through the atmosphere with all the litheness of Stevonnie and concentrated seriousness of Pearl.

It pays off.

She gets full marks on her progress report and congratulatory texts from her parents.

 _So proud of you, honey_ , Mom writes.

 _We_ _hope you’re having fun up there!_ Dad adds.

Connie blinks.

Uncomfortable.

Self-conscious.

_Confused._

Somewhere between returning to an apocalyptically wasted Beach City and seeing a nearly dying Steven, she’d forgotten that camp was supposed to be _fun_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 43/300


	44. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** the night after the events of the movie Steven gets some quality family time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm always down to write some soft family fluff. ;w;

The first day of cleanup goes decently enough.

They remove the majority of the injector fluid, but the damage done to the city isn’t so easily mitigated, no matter how many times Steven kisses the ground.

It’s not for a lack of trying, though.

It takes Garnet physically carrying him back to the beach—despite his best protestations—to make him quit for the night.

“Target delivered,” she grins, dropping him on the sand.

“Excellent,” Pearl says primly, passing him a slice of pizza.

“ _Excellent,_ ” Amethyst mocks Pearl in perfect imitation.

Steven can’t help but laugh.

He loves these fools.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 44/300


	45. Homestretch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Peridot,Lapis and Bismuth spend time together while preparing Little Homeworld.

It’s a beautiful night on Earth, with all the stars hanging from the sky like lanterns. Beneath them, Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth stretch out on top of the roof they just finished constructing, their limbs sore, their mouths arranged in smiles.

Because they’re doing what they all once thought to be impossible.

They’re building a new _home._

“We’re on the last stretch now,” Bismuth effuses, her voice all delight. “Just a few more residential buildings and maybe that basketball field Steven keeps talking about.”

“Nyeh,” Peridot chimes in, “wasn’t it a football court?”

“Yeah,” Lapis snorts, “something like that anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 45/300


	46. Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** we know what Jenny, Sour Cream, and Buck are gonna do for their futures, but what's Kiki been up to? is she gonna take over the pizzeria?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are having a great weekend! I am currently procrastinating homework. <3

At the end of a long work day, Kiki wipes down tables. Gunga, who had been enjoying her dinner in one of the booths, smiles at her fondly.

“Kiki!”

“Yes, Gunga?”

“Now, tell me, why aren’t you out there with the rest of the younglings your age, Facechatting or rollerblading or whatever else the youth does these days?”

“I’m _working_ ,” she laughs, tender and amused. “I have responsibilities, you know.”

“And are you happy working?” Gunga presses, her voice suddenly serious. “Is this what you _want_ to do, child?”

“Yeah,” Kiki replies softly, “for right now, this is perfectly enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 46/300


	47. Spillage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Vidalia and Amethyst catch up after Steven's monster episode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **CW: Alcohol Mention**
> 
> Amethyst and Vidalia's friendship is low-key one of my favorites on the show.

“You look like you need a drink,” Vidalia says sympathetically, joining Amethyst on the couch.

“ _Dude,_ you don’t even know.”

“Well, you’ve got two options, my friend. I can go raid Yellowtail’s fridge for a six-pack _now_ or _after_ you’ve spilled your guts a little. Pick your poison.”

“After.”

“Good choice. Now _spill_.

Amethyst plays a little with her hands, wringing them into awful knots.

“Steven… he… he turned into a monster, V. He’d just been holding so much crap in for so long, and we _noticed_ , but we didn’t… I…”

The silence stretches thin.

“ _I_ … wasn’t there for him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 47/300


	48. Reformation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** White Diamond has learned how to be so extremely empathetic to the point that she literally becomes another person, but has she really begun to understand others?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely believe that "I Am My Monster" could serve as a wake-up call to White (and the other two) that while the progress they've made is _good_ , there's still so much more work for them to do in the matter of remaking themselves into better Gems!

Her hands clasped behind her back, White Diamond stares at Homeworld through the geometric windows in her chamber, seeing nothing, even though the vista offers a sprawling city, a _changing_ one.

Constantly evolving.

Becoming better.

_Reformed._

White had assumed she was reformed. After all, these past two years have taught her much in the ways of goodness and kindness.

(She’s relinquished all of her colonies! She’s given her body to gemkind!)

But after witnessing Steven transform into a monster who is partially her own making, White’s gem aches with the guilt of it all.

She loves Steven.

She _hurt_ him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 48/300


	49. Comment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Sardonyx makes some internet videos

In an endeavor to introduce the wider world to gems, Sardonyx hosts _Sardonyx Tonight_ to an audience who _isn’t_ just a construction of her own head, broadcasting on TubeTube.

Steven reads the comments she receives aloud—though admittedly, he goes to great lengths to ignore the thirst posts (“giant lady owo”).

“Ooh,” he exclaims, “here’s one from someone who doesn’t think you’re CGI!"

“Let us hear,” Sardonyx says warmly, holding him aloft in her hand.

“‘Sardonyx’s monologue was the first time I’ve laughed all week... thank you so much, Yard Sard.’”

“ _Oho,_ ” she murmurs, blushing, overwhelmed, “that is simply marvelous.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 49/300


	50. Unicorn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Writer's Choice:** While traveling through California, Steven encounters two fishermen arguing about unicorns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was on hiatus when there were a lot of Gravity Falls/SU crossovers, but I saw some of the content on my dashboard, and it was so good hiosdahfiodhf that I decided to have a little fun with this one and contribute to it!!!
> 
> At any rate, holy crap—time flies. We've reached our _fiftieth_ fragment. 300 seemed like such a daunting number at the beginning of this fic, but I've had so much fun writing these pieces and talking to you all in the comments section, that slowly but surely, that huge number is whittling itself down. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for your continued support on _Fragments III_ , and really, on all of my work in general. Writing has been a practice in catharsis to me during this pandemic, and engaging with you guys has been a genuine joy in these weird times. Sincerely, thank you for helping to keep me grounded.
> 
> Hope you're having a good week!

In August, Steven’s journey through California takes him to a diner in a little seaside town, where his booth is adjacent to two fishermen-looking brothers.

While waiting for his pancakes, he groggily listens to their playful banter.

“Mabel won’t believe us when we tell her we saw a unicorn,” the one in the red beanie laughs.

“That’s because we didn’t,” the other protests. “It was some sort of anomalous equine with a protruding gemstone embedded in its head.”

“That’s a unicorn, Ford!”

“Arguably—“

But Steven has to turn around at this point.

“I’m sorry—what was that about a gemstone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 50/300


	51. Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Andy and Greg stay in touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in my Greg feels, lads.

“I worry about him,” Greg admits painfully, “all the time.”

He and Andy are sitting on the porch, sipping on coffee from the Big Donut, and all Greg can think about is how he never taught his kid how to use a coffee pot.

Does Steven even know how to access an ATM?

Can he change his oil if he has to?

 _God,_ neither of them had car insurance ’til a few months ago.

“Yer a parent, ya lump,” Andy shrugs kindly, patting Greg’s shoulder. “That’s yer job. If you weren’t worried all the time, I’d be worried ‘bout you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 51/300


	52. Homerun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** I hopal for Opal, perhaps she will attempt some baseball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"Supermassive Black Hole" plays in the distance._

It’s a tense situation.

There are runners on both second and third, but her team is two strikes in.

Opal contemplates the elongated bat in her hand and half-wishes that it was a bow.

“You ready to rumble, Cool Cat?” Sunstone grins at her from the pitcher’s mound, their flames dazzlingly bright. “I’ve got a wicked curveball.”

“I suppose,” she smiles slightly, positioning the bat over her shoulder.

Sunstone doesn’t hesitate, lobbing the ball with inhuman intensity, and Opal responds with equivalent force.

Needless to say, the ball ends up somewhere in the ocean.

Opal leaps across the bases, laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 52/300


	53. Skydancer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** OOO I just rewatched the ep Space Race and had a prompt idea- post CYM, Pearl getting to *truly* take Steven out for a joy ride through the cosmos in a properly operational ship of her design.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't say no to writing Bird Mom feels. ;w;

With access to technology from Homeworld, a neatly articulated blueprint eventually becomes a skeleton becomes a sleek, beautiful ship, built by Pearl and christened the _Skydancer_ by Steven.

On her maiden voyage, she soars through a galaxy of rainbow-colored stars.

Pearl glances over at the passenger seat where Steven sits, not quite a kid anymore, but not entirely an adult either, his pink space suit adorned with stickers, his eyes universe wide.

“I’ve been to space before,” he whispers, “but never like this, Pearl. Never just to enjoy it.”

“It’s extraordinary,” she agrees quietly, her voice tender, capacious with love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 53/300


	54. Mercy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** The shattering-is-wrong discussion between Rose and Bismuth that led to Bis being bubbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy weekend, everyone! Have some pain. <3

“Do you think _they_ would show us mercy, Rose?” Bismuth asks, fervent, vehement, feverish in the glow of the forge.

“Do you not think that they’d shatter us at the first opportunity they got?” She continues, raking one exasperated hand through her hair, clenching the Breaking Point with the other. “Stars, Garnet and Biggs almost got captured last week on that reconnaissance mission!”

“But shattering is _wrong_ , Bismuth,” Rose says. Rose _pleads_. “No matter who it is—even the Diamonds. They’re gems, too. Just like _us_. They—”

“They’re nothing like me,” Bismuth interrupts darkly. “Or _you_.”

Rose’s gem aches violently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 54/300


	55. Happy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Smoky Quartz hasn't made a self deprecating joke in a while, is it Steven's therapy?

At Beach-a-Palooza, Smoky Quartz does a standup act, describing their day in the funniest way imaginable to an audience who can’t get enough.

“And that, folks, is how I ended up buying a dozen donut _bags_ just to prove a point…”

In the front row, Pearl leans over to Garnet, chuckling.

“Stars, they’re excellent!” she exclaims. “I’ve never laughed so hard in my life!”

“And they’re enjoying themselves,” Garnet murmurs. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Smoky so happy.”

Pearl, quietly, so that no one else can hear: “Therapy must be helping Steven.”

“Mhm.”

Garnet’s smile bespeaks her overwhelming relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 55/300


	56. Electric

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Yellow’s gloves; I feel like their covering something up maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, I could straight up write a 2,000 word fic about this headcanon; I might do it one day if I ever have the time ioshaiofhhi.

“Blue?”

“… yes, Pink?”

Though the Diamond barely looks up from her screen, Pink Diamond can tell that she’s listening from the way that her long chin tilts slightly in her direction.

_Good._

Because she has an important question to ask.

“Why does Yellow wear her gloves all the time?”

Pink has gloves, too, but they’re not like Yellow’s—stiff and armor-like. Plus, she takes hers off from time to time so she can feel flowers on her fingertips…

Blue Diamond frowns thoughtfully.

“Yellow’s touch is electric, you know. When we were younger Diamonds… she couldn’t touch anything without hurting it…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 56/300


	57. Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Fusion Cuisine 2 Electric Boogaloo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I implying that Jasper and Amethyst might fuse so that Jasper can try cake?
> 
> Yes, yes I am.

Jasper eyes the structure on the picnic table with increasing doubt.

It’s obviously one of those stupid human foods—three boxes of differing sizes stacked on top of each other pyramidically.

The edges are lined in… pink.

“It’s cake,” Amethyst explains. “It’s, like, something you eat when you’re celebrating something.”

“Does it give you special powers?”

“Nah, but it sure does taste good.”

Jasper stares at her incredulously.

“Gems don’t _eat_.”

“ _Some_ do,” Amethyst counters, “if they give themselves a digestive system.”

She pats her stomach proudly.

“ _Or,_ ” she grins at Jasper, “if they fuse with someone who already has…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 57/300


	58. Belonging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** the Rose Quartz sisters visit again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The duality of urs truly is that I can give you cake fluff one day and unbearable pain the next.

When the Rose Quartzes return to Earth to visit Steven—unaware that he’s gone—Pearl isn’t ready for them, least of all the Rose who looks like _her_ , with those big, doleful eyes andthat quiet air of feeling like she doesn’t belong.

Because now that she thinks back on it, _her_ Rose bore that indefinable awkwardness, too.

She just disguised it better.

“I’m sorry,” not-Rose mumbles when she’s out of earshot from her companions.

She doesn’t clarify what she’s apologizing for, and Pearl intuits that it’s her entire existence.

“For… what?” Pearl whispers.

Gentle.

(Undone.)

“You’ve done _nothing_ wrong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 58/300


	59. Transcendence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Fluorite offers someone wise caterpillar grandma advice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are having a good week! I'm so glad it's finally Friday hsdohfosif.

As the _Sun Incinerator_ prepares to enter Earth’s atmosphere, Lars’s nerves begin to get the best of him.

He paces the tiled flooring in front of Fluorite, whose sympathetic gaze follows his frenetic gait.

“My parents are going to freak,” he states factually. “I’m pink and undead, and I’ve got a scar across my eye. They won’t be able to handle it.”

He pauses, running an exasperated hand through his hair.

Heck, _I_ could barely handle it.”

“But… Captain… Lars…” Fluorite replies slowly, her smile all kindness, “you… _did_ … eventually… It… might… be… hard… at… first… but… love… always… transcends.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 59/300


	60. March

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Writer's Choice:** Connie and Steven reflect on changes in life after the pandemic. Not canon compliant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's difficult to fathom that in just a few days, we'll have reached the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus. I'm not going to make it a habit to address it so directly in my writing, but I've been thinking lately, I wanted to do at least one piece to work through the hellishness of this past year.
> 
> On a more positive note, though, thank you so much for seeing me through to our sixth Writer's Choice, our sixtieth fragment. <3 Writing has genuinely been one of the most soothing practices to me during this pandemic, and to have you all alongside me—every word of the way—has made it a fun one. I'm so excited to keep writing from here, both on 'FIII' and other projects!
> 
> Have a great rest of the weekend!

Connie props her phone up on the desk as Steven’s face comes into view.

“You know,” she begins wryly, “ _you’re_ probably immune to the virus.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Steven replies, chuckling beneath his mask, “but I should probably model good behavior anyway.”

“Excellent point…” She smiles, a little charmed, a little weary.

March has been a long month already.

“How about you?” Steven asks. “How’re you holding up?”

Connie momentarily freezes.

She misses her school, and she misses her friends.

She misses her mom, who’s been living at a hotel, working overtime…

“Not entirely well… but I’m… I’m coping.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 60/300


	61. Understanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Onion be doing Onion things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe I should have gone a absurdist for this one haisodfhoihaf, but I was feeling a little tender™.
> 
> Also, small plug! You know the piece I did the other day about Yellow Diamond's gloves? Inspiration to expand upon it struck me, and now it's going to be a [seven pt. fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29886411/chapters/73548090)!! I don't have time to write a seven pt. fic, but I'm going to do it anyway, lmao.

“Listen, kid,” Vidalia says, hoisting Onion into her arms, “you know me. I’m not about stepping on your groove… but, like, every once in awhile, can you shoot me a text, so I know you’re a-okay?”

Onion cocks his head, understanding registering in his dark eyes.

“Mah, mah, mah?”

“Yeah, bud,” she admits softly. “When we couldn’t find you for those couple of days, I nearly lost my crap.”

“Mah, mah.” Onion pats her cheek consolingly. “Mah, mah, mah?”

“Yes,” she laughs, “ _of course_ , you can still hang out in the arcade machines—just don’t let Mr. Smiley catch ya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 61/300


	62. Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Andy and Steven post-I am My Monster? I love their relationship lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am tender™.

One Saturday morning, Steven swallows his fears and clambers into a small fishing boat with Andy.

Temporarily paralyzed, shamefully undone, he watches his shadow elongate across the water and can’t help but think about the _last_ time he was in the ocean.

He was fifty-feet tall, and the waves thrashed around his tail.

Steven shivers against the cold.

He shivers with his own phantom monstrosity.

And his uncle kindly tells him to row at his own pace.

“I used to love the ocean,” Steven murmurs painfully.

“And maybe you will again some day,” Andy replies.

“S’okay to take things slow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 62/300


	63. Ignorance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** does Lapis even realize Bismuth was probably the one who poofed her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my thought process for this one was, what if Bismuth doesn't realize it either? ;-;

One starless night, sitting on the porch steps of their new home, Bismuth and Lapis trade war stories.

It’s a way of coping.

Of contending with all that they’d lost.

“I almost got away,” Lapis murmurs. “But when I was getting ready to fly, someone poofed me with a hard blow… and that was it. That was all…”

Bismuth shakes her head sadly, reaching over and patting the gem on her back.

“I’m sorry, Lapis.”

“It’s fine,” she shrugs. “It’s not like you did it.”

“Maybe not… but I poofed a lotta gems... I've gotta apologize to someone for it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 63/300


	64. Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** did I already say more Mega Pearl cause there can never be enough Mega Pearl

Mega Pearl sits on the edge of Rose’s fountain, daring to dip her toes beneath the smooth surface of the petal-strewn, ambrosial waters.

The sunset glazes the cove around them in dusty ambers, in rose-tinted golds.

“She used to love this place,” Pearl explains softly. “For what it represented. Healing. Compassion. Catharsis from pain.”

The fusion stares downwards at her reflection, at the crack bifurcating her eye, and smiles sadly.

“She never did like to see gems hurt,” she agrees with herself. “Even back then. She cried so terribly when she hurt me and promised never to do it again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 64/300


End file.
